Red Wolf
by Invisible206
Summary: Set pre Thor I, this is a story about Loki and the Frost Giant Angrboda
1. Chapter1

The Allfather summoned his sons and the warriors three (and Sif) to his council chamber. Loki wondered why he chose this specific group.

"The frost giants have been sneaking in through a portal in the Ironwood. They were mainly hunting the wild creatures before, But lately have been seen stealing livestock from the villagers." Odin explained to his sons and Thor's friends "We need to find that portal and destroy it"

Portals and magic were definitely Loki's areas of expertise, Thor, Sif and the warriors three would be coming along in case they encountered any Frost Giants while searching. The warrior group was excited by the prospect of killing the monsters. Ever since they were children they had played at war with frost giant, or kill the frost giant. Loki usually ended up as the frost giant and the other children were not gentle when they caught him, so it wasn't a game he enjoyed.

Loki looked away. He had no love for the Jotnar but he also took no joy in killing and war. His older brother loved to talk about how they would exterminate the Jotnar when he was king. Loki was uncomfortable with the idea of destroying an entire race-even though he knew they were monsters, some were children who just did as they were taught. Perhaps it was the culture and not the beings who that the monstrosity originated. Thor would make a terrible king. Even father said that a good king never sought out war but was always prepared, Thor seemed the opposite, always seeking the opportunity for war but never prepared for the consequences.

Loki was lethal with his daggers, but battle and killing just wasn't the focus of his life as it was for his brother and his brother's friends. Somehow it felt beneath him and it frustrated him that his magic was not appreciated as much as his brothers fighting skills. The Aesir thought of magic as a woman's craft, and indeed it was his mother who had taught him, but the Allfather himself had quite powerful Seidr yet no one would dare suggest he was feminine.

But at least he had been recognized as the one to destroy the portal. He was pleased to have that tiny bit of acknowledgement from his father. He wondered how much the Allfather knew about his familiarity with portals. Probably more than he liked, but at least Odin recognized that he had this knowledge and chose him to carry out the task.

They gathered their supplies, mounted their horses and galloped to the edge of the forest. It was too thick for the horses so they left them at the edge. The horses were well trained and would stay in the area eating the lush grass unless there was danger.

Loki led the way in, the forest was dark and full of life, many creatures and plants from all over Yggrasil, some with no name ever spoken. He could feel the passages and knew the locations of more of them than he would ever tell anyone about. It was all a matter of finding the right one.

The further in they walked the darker and denser it got. They could hear birds and animals in the distance, going about their business. After a bit things suddenly got quiet. As if the creatures of the ironwood had all stopped to watch what was about to happen.

Suddenly five huge Jotun hunters burst on the road. Each one at least 12 feet tall. They wore nothing but loincloths and their red in red eyes glowed maliciously. They carried no weapons because they created weapons of ice from their bodies and the moisture in the air as they required them. Sif drew her sword and lunged at the first one before he could finish forming his spear, quickly running him through with a lethal jab. He fell with a groan and blood quickly pooled around him. Loki was surprised that it's blood was red and not black. In the stories their blood was so black that no light reflected from it. Thor and the warriors three engaged the other four. Loki tried to determine where they had come from and if there were more.

As if on cue a sixth monster caught up with his companions and swung his ice dagger encrusted arm at Loki. Loki quickly moved to the side and created three copies of himself to confuse the giant.

The frost giant roared in frustration as his arm swept through the illusions meeting no resistance. He quickly identified the real Loki and charged him into the forest, efficiently separating him from his brother and the rest of the party.

The frost giant cornered Loki between some boulders and a large tree. Loki tried to slip between the boulders, he was very thin but his bones just didn't fit through.

Loki felt the air displaced rather than heard or saw the ice spear as it pierced the Jotun's neck- seconds before the ice dagger poised to slash his throat would have hit its mark.

In a flash a small but muscular arm grabbed the spear and yanked it roughly from the tree, shaking it hard to unceremoniously remove the carcass from its tip- the dying frost giant landed at Loki's feet with a thud, made some choking sounds then laid still.

Blue. The arm was pale blue. Attached to a woman- or at least a female... frost giant? Loki has never seen a female frost giant, in fact, he'd never really thought about it or heard about them.

But this monster was very clearly female. Or maybe IT was trying to fool him,trying to lull him Into complacency. But then why had it killed his attacker?

It was shorter than Loki by half a head. Had it had the rich brown or clear pink skin of an asynja he would have found it-her(?) quite beautiful... well, except for the little horns nestled in its long dark red hair. They were neatly buffed slate blue hooks that curled down around and past her ears ending in wickedly sharpened points that paralleled her cheekbones.

It was a monster. It's eyes were pale red on red, and whorls of pale ridges covered it from its face to its carelessly exposed body. The savage creature wore only a crossed halter of fur with a lattice of beads hanging under its breasts and a loincloth also decorated with beads, almost a skirt but the legs were free and exposed, the legs were also covered with whorls and ridges. On its feet were boots made from fur with beads and quills strung in the laces. Loki quickly abandoned any attraction he had initially felt. This was certainly a monster and it was hideous.

"You should be more careful," she said in a sultry alto growl, baring tiny sharp teeth in an arrogant smile. "There is a passage to Jotunheim at the foot of that mountain, the Jotun often sneak in for some hunting and they aren't above a little sport hunting to mix in with their meat poaching."

"Is that why you are here?" He asked as he tried to keep his eyes on her face.

"No, the ironwood is my domain. Then her face turned into a snarl, "the hunters don't belong here, they kill too many beasts and throw off the balance. Them I hunt" her snarl turned to a self satisfied smirk that forced the corner of Loki's mouth to turn up in a mirrored smirk of approval.

"You clearly possess seidr, and you smell interesting" she mused with her eyes narrowed as she raised her chin to get a better whiff of him. "What sort of creature are you and what are you called?"

The smile dropped from his lips and he answered "creature?! I am Loki, son of Odin, God of Mischief, Prince of Asgard"

The Jotun laughed and in her rich alto she said "God of Mischief?! seriously, Mischief? You say that with such a straight face, Ha! And Son Of Odin" she rolled her eyes, which Loki now noticed where more of a pinkish purple than red "that does explain your odd scent, the King of Asgard himself is half Jotun from his mother, Bestla. He hides it, ashamed. We remember. You are a quarter Jotun, though I would have guessed more from the smell of you"

Loki was quiet, frustrated, he knew she was right and wished she would stop talking about the way he smelled. He tried to focus on the primitive idea of her being so aware of his scent. Disgusting Creature she was. Six ft tall long legged curvy and blue, he could look her in the eye without bending down, even Sif was too short for that. He actually kind of liked that.

She broke the silence: "I am Angrboda, She who Brings Sorrow, leader of the Wolf Clan, Sorceress of the IronWood"

"You are very small for a frost giant, how are you going to bring me sorrow?! Loki sneered at her, forgetting that she had just saved his life.

She snorted a laugh and rolled her eyes again. "I think my mother was sorry when she saw me - it's just part of my name. And we come in many sizes" she said. "The possession of seidr interferes with growth hormones and makes us quite small, I possess a lot" she narrowed her eyes as she stared intently at him. Grinning as she sized him up. Her small white teeth were sharp like a cat's and her canines were long. "More than you but I admit that you are the most powerful other I have encountered. You just lack a lot of training I suspect. It still would do you well to mind your manners with those who assist you, otherwise you would be a trophy on his wall" she said nudging the now dead frost giant at their feet with her ice spear.

"Certainly a lot of raw talent," she added. "You should get out of this area, though, he is unlikely to be alone"

"I am here to find the portal they are using and destroy it" Loki informed her.

She smiled and snorted a laugh "you think that is the only one? There are hundreds. They will find the others and come right back. You can never close them all-this is the nature of the Ironwood. But fine, look over there, to the left of that tall tree in the distance. There is a small cave in the hill that contains the portal they have been using lately. Go shut it down" then she smirked and nodded with a chuckle "your highness".

When Loki looked back from where she had directed him she was gone.

Loki met back up with his companions, who were excitedly discussing the battle as they moved the dead frost giants out of the road.

"Ran away from danger, did you?" Chanted Volstagg with disgust.

"He didn't want to get his pretty little hands dirty" Fandral jeered.

"Of course" answered Loki, rolling his eyes, "I wouldn't want to get sweaty and ruin my clothes... Now let's stop playing around and shut down this portal I have found".

They followed Loki to the portal Angrboda showed him. Once they got there Loki was quickly able to render it unusable. He did see a lot of interesting runes and carvings on the walls of the cave, though. He made a mental note to return to study this cave further


	2. Chspter2

Once back in the Ironwood forest Loki quickly found the cave that had contained the portal he had destroyed days ago. He could feel the magic in the area and knew there was still something interesting to find here.

Father had explicitly ordered him to stay out of the Ironwood after they had shut the portal down, but for Loki that was just a challenge. Besides whatever was in that cave was too fascinating to leave behind and he couldn't ignore it, and besides no one paid attention to him unless they wanted something from him. He felt confident that he could get away with whatever he needed to get his answers.

Suddenly things felt off again and he froze. Listening carefully to every sound- or was it the lack of sound? Something was off again. More frost giants? The hair on the back of his neck prickled and his eyes started to water in reaction to fear. He had been hastily in his eagerness to get here, he hadn't been quite as careful as he normally would have been.

The cave had something very interesting in it, but was it guarded?

Suddenly a growl and three gray wolves pounced from nowhere. He drew his daggers but daggers are not the right weapon when faced with three mouths full of sharp teeth bent on tasting ones blood.

He stabbed one on the back of its neck and kicked another with all of his strength. He should have cloaked himself with magic, he knew better than this and would have done so had he actually planned the trip rather than just focusing on the possibilities hidden in that cave.

The third wolf jumped on him, he could feel its hot breath on his face and just as a drop of drool fell from its open mouth to his face a blur of red pushed it off. It yelped a quick protest as a red wolf ripped out its throat.

The larger red wolf turned and attacked the gray wolf that Loki had kicked, making quick work of it and soon there were three dead wolves, one with Loki's dagger in its head and two ripped apart by the mysterious red wolf.

The red wolf turned to look at Loki, still on the ground. He lay still, hoping she would go away and had not just been stealing the prey for herself. It stared for a moment, its sparkling amethyst eyes glowing from its dark, black red face. It's fur was the color of dried blood and wet red blood from the two gray wolves matted the fur on its chin.

Suddenly it sneezed, spattering blood and slobber and getting a few drops on Loki's arm. It looked much like a big friendly dog-were it not for all the blood, of course. there was an almost readable expression on its face that looked like amusement, like a content lapdog. Its tail slowly twitched from side to side and then it turned and bolted away, quickly disappearing into the dense brush without a sound.

Loki watched it go. Then quickly mumbled a spell to make himself invisible. That was a careless mistake. He had cloaked himself from Heimdallr and thought it was enough. He got up and brushed himself off. Took a moment to straighten his clothes, smooth back his pitch black hair and went back to searching the area for magical items.

His mind kept going back to the red wolf. It was clearly not just a wolf. The Ironwood was not a place that many would wander unless they had no choice, or were very foolhardy. There were stories of monsters and passages between the branches of Yggdrasil that allowed all types of beings to travel in and out of the forest. One could encounter beings from any of the nine realms and possibly beyond. Nothing was off limits.

In the cave Loki found runes and scenes carved into the walls. The runes were Jotun, that much he recognized from the sharp angles and points. He couldn't read them, Jotnar writings and history weren't exactly standard education for an aesir prince. He pulled some paper and charcoal from his bag and made rubbings of the runes to study later. He put the rubbings securely into his pocket dimension, along with the interesting herbs and minerals he had collected and headed back home, no one the wiser, so he thought.

Angrboda felt an aura before she felt the call. These calls seemed almost like headaches sometimes. They had started literally hours after her mentor returned to the ice. The hopeless, the downtrodden and the underdogs would be the beneficiaries of her gifts. She doted on the deformed and the abused. They called to her- they dared to summon the Hag of the Ironwood.

She smiled at the name given to her predecessor. Even the older sorceress had not really seemed like a "Hag", though she had been very old, a wise woman and a powerful sorceress, the closest Angrboda had to a mother. Yet the humans choose to call her "Hag", perhaps to discourage people from interacting with her now that the Christian invaders of Midgard had taken control and forbidden practice of the old ways. She would occasionally get summons from other realms, but it was mostly Midgard who had need of her.

As the call strengthened she teleported to the source. When she saw the summoner she kept her face unreadable and arched her eyebrows in anticipation of his request.

The Allfather had occasionally summoned the elder Sorceress, but Angrboda knew not what they discussed or if any favors were given.

"You are not the one who I called" said Odin when he saw the pale young Jotun appear instead of the taller, cobalt skinned elder whom he had spoken with many times before.

"My Teacher has returned to the ice", Angrboda stated without emotion or inflection bowing her head in respect for the passing of the elder sorceress. I am Angrboda, She Who Brings Sorrow, Sorceress of the Ironwood and leader of the Wolf Clan". She stood quietly waiting for the Old man to make his request.

"You are no older than my sons!" Odin stated in annoyance, "how can such an inexperienced, pale young creature as you wield the power of the Ironwood?" Her sky blue skin was rare, but it was was just color and had nothing to do with her potential power. As a sorceress she was naturally tiny for a giant, in fact she was quite a bit smaller than her predecessor. It was very poor manners to point out her size and skin color-especially for someone who presumably wanted something from her.

Angrboda did not react and said nothing. She had gotten similar reactions to her coloring from other jotnar who felt they could get away with it. This sort of behavior from a ruler was a poor reflection on him. She let her silence make her opinion of him clear as she calmly waited for him to state the purpose of the summoning.

"My youngest son has been sneaking into the Ironwood against my wishes. I want you to discourage him." Odin said.

"I am not a babysitter and he is not causing me any problems- other than the occasional need of rescue" she smirked "You can be assured that I will allow no harm to come to him" Angrboda responded.

"There is nothing for him there, I do not want him wasting his time there, he must stay away" said Odin.

"Discipline your own children, Allfather, this is not my problem" Angrboda told him. "I have nothing more to say and will be taking my leave now" she bowed her head in farewell and teleported back to her home.

She wondered if this would become a problem for her, not giving the Allfather what he wanted. She wondered how her mentor had handled him. She didn't like him one bit.


	3. Chapter3

There wasn't much in the royal library on Jotun runework or Magic. Loki walked purposely to the farthest dusty corner and pushed a ladder over to the section where he hoped to find some information. He sneezed a couple times as the dust was disturbed. Scanning the spines of the ancient tomes a single book caught his eye. He grabbed it and clutched it to his chest as he climbed down one handed.

Walking eagerly to the nearest desk he put the book down dust flew up all around it. He brushed it off with his hand and opened the cover.

His pulse raced as he saw that the runes were sharp and jagged like the ones on the rubbings, he pulled those out of his pocket dimension to compare them to the dense writings in the book.

The book was hand written and each page was full. There were no pictures or anything to help him to decipher what he was looking at, just pages and pages filled with the jagged runes, most very neatly scribed in an even hand. Some pages were darker, like the writer had been angry or upset, the pages got consistently darker towards the end.

As he was deep in thought he almost missed the soft footsteps behind him. He turned around to see his mother walking towards him with an amused smile.

"You found your grandmother Bestla's journal,'' she said. "No one here could ever read it, dear. Her secrets followed her to the grave. What do you think your grandmother might have written for you so long ago, before you were even born?"

Loki trusted his mother more than anyone else. She taught him her magic and he could always count on her even when everyone else was against him and putting him down.

So he showed her the rubbings from the cave.

"Mother, these are from the cave that held the portal to Jötunheim, the one I destroyed. I was hoping to find a way to translate them."

She picked up one of the rubbings and scrutinized it. "I'm afraid there is no one in Asgard who can translate these".

"What if I found someone who could?" He asked.

"Are you planning to find a frost giant to read to you, my son?" She said with a gentle laugh. "Probably not the best idea all things considered".

Loki almost mentioned the giantess who saved him in the ironwood, but something made him stop...

His mother looked at him with her knowing eyes. She reached up to sweep a lock of his wavy black hair behind his ear and out of his face.

"Stay away from the sorceress in the Ironwood, my son. She is not to be trusted"

Loki tried to hide his surprise that his mother knew about her. "Whatever do you mean, mother? What sorceress?"

Frigga smiled and chuckled softly. She knew her son was playing a game with her, and that he knew that it was pointless to do so. "Loki, the Jotunn sorceress Angrboda is dangerous and she has nothing to teach you. You must stay away from her".

"Mother, I'm sure a Jotunn sorceress can read Jotnar runes", he said with a smirk. "She could show me how to read these runes".

"Do not expect her to be your friend, Son"

Loki smiled at his mother and looked back at his grandmother's journal. "I wonder what Bestla wrote about all the time".


	4. Chapter4

How exactly was he going to find the Sorceress? He had no idea where in the great forest she lived, and the ironwood was a place much larger on the inside than on the outside. Thus could take months or years. Perhaps there was a way to call her, but what could that be.

At least there were plenty of interesting plants and rare minerals to find and collect, he hadn't been lying about that. The ironwood had many other realms bleeding in to it and there were no rules regarding what might be found there.

It started to get dark so he decided to make a camp. He often would be gone for long periods of time. No one ever missed him anyway, he thought bitterly.

In the distance he heard the howling of wolves. He shuddered. He hoped they would stay far away.

He gathered some branches and waved his hand over them. Mumbled some words and a strong fire started up. He pulled some food and dishes from a pocket dimension and started to cook his dinner.

He felt something cold and wet on the back of his neck and jumped up and quickly turned around, daggers appearing in both hands.

There, sitting calmly and looking at him with her head slightly cocked to the side and tail slowly thumping the ground was the red wolf.

"Oh, hello, it's you" Loki said nervously. "Would you like something to eat? Other than me, of course" he chuckled as he reached for the pot hanging over the fire and brought a second plate from his pocket dimension. Without taking his eyes off of her he poured some stew into to the plate. "Be careful, this is hot"

He put the plate in front of the wolf. She bent down and sniffed it. She must have agreed that it was too hot to eat yet because she looked back up at him and cocked her head again.

"Thank you for saving me the other day" said Loki as he held his hand out for her to sniff. She sniffed the proffered hand and looked up at him again. He got brave and scratched her behind the ear. She seemed to like that and laid down by the fire.

She stayed by the fire most of the night. Only getting up to gobble the cooled stew. Occasionally her ears would prick up and she would growl at some invisible intruder, but that seemed to be enough as she never had to get up.

She was still there in the morning.

"Ok, will you be able to help me find Angrboda?" Loki mumbled to the wolf. She sat up and thumped her tail hard against the ground. Loki swore she was smiling. He liked this wolf and wondered if she would come with him to the castle.

He magically cleaned up the site and threw some scraps from breakfast to the red wolf. She gobbled that up and sniffed around for more. He pulled some dried meat from his pocket dimension and tossed it to her. She made quick work of that too.

"Ok let's go" he said to the wolf as he started down a faint path. The wolf trotted after him with her tail slightly wagging.

A couple times she growled and sniffed the air, but whatever it was that she perceived did not want to tangle with her. Loki often would reach down to scratch her ears and stroke her. He mumbled silly things that people say to good dogs, even though she was a wild thing she responded to the affection.

Suddenly she stopped and started to bark. He looked at her quizzically, "what do you see?" He asked, not expecting an answer.

There didn't appear to be anything ahead of them. He started to walk ahead and she barked again, she tried to grab the back of his leg in her mouth but he was too quick.

Suddenly he cried out in shock as something grabbed his leg and the world turned upside down. A tree branch him snapped up and he was dangling erratically by one leg. Too surprised to do anything yet.

The wolf walked slowly towards him and stood on her hind legs. Her cold nose could almost reach the tip of his flailing fingers.

But something strange was happening. Her snout receded and she continued to grow. Her short hair disappeared and horns and long red black hair grew on her head. Her bare skin was pale blue and only covered strategically with a beaded fur halter tied around her chest and a flowing loincloth at her hips.

"You just don't listen, do you, your highness?" She said exasperated. She quickly formed a long blade of ice and sliced through the rope at his ankle. "And I thought we were having a great time until you spoiled it" she pouted. "You walked right into a poachers trap"

He scrambled to get up after his horribly ungraceful flop to the forest floor.

"Angrboda!!! What?! Why?!"

"Why not? It amused me silly prince. Surely you would appreciate such a prank Oh God of Mischief" She said with a smirk followed by an escaped giggle, which got out of control and ended with an undignified but rather cute snort.

Appreciation wasn't quite what he was feeling. Though he did respect her ability to prank him he wasn't sure how he felt about being on the other side of Mischief.

Loki rubbed his ankle a minute and then got up. Brushed himself off, slicked his raven hair back into place with his fingers and gave the little Jötunn a stern stare.

"Do you already know what I came to ask you?" He asked her steadily.

"No, I mean I could pull it out of your head, but thoughts are messy and I find it best not to go there".

Loki agreed, his stomach also twisted with the new knowledge that she could see his thoughts if she wanted to... hopefully it was always something she had to do deliberately and never an unintended glimpse.

She laughed. "I don't need to read your mind to know what you are thinking. Don't worry, I may not be a pretty little Asynja or a midnight blue Jotunn but that doesn't stop the random thoughts of males of any species. I just ignore that or I would have to kill every male I encounter, which would be tedious, don't you think?"

That still didn't put Loki at ease. He really did find her attractive and he hated that. She was the monster from the scary children's stories.

"Why should I answer your questions anyway? You are a prince, spoiled creature who doesn't even dress himself"

Loki found that especially funny. "You might need some assistance dressing yourself, sorceress"

"It's too hot to wear much more than this," she said. "Sorry you don't approve of my culture's method of dress. So what do you want?"

"I wish to learn to read Jotnar runes," he said. I found some very intriguing carvings, and would expand my magical repertoire".

"I see," she replied with a smirk, "and what would you offer me in return for this knowledge of my culture, whose fashion in clothing you have such disdain for?"

"I have gold and jewels I can offer you"

Angrboda rolled her eyes. "What would a savage like me do with gold and jewels" she laughed. "How about you teach me something. Some Aesir magic for some Jotnar magic, sound like a fair deal to you?" She bargained.

It did sound fair and intriguing to Loki. It also meant he would spend more time with her, an idea that he rather liked, against his better judgment. So they made a plan and a couple times a week for several months he met the sorceress at the edge of the ironwood.

Some days she would greet him in wolf form and they would walk quietly together for a while before she would change. He wasn't really sure why she did that, but he rather enjoyed walking with the red wolf and she clearly got something out of the quiet companionship.

She taught him the jagged Jotun runes and he taught her bits of aesir magic. He found that the carvings in the cave told a story of an ancient mage and how he saved a village. Not the profound revelation he had hoped for, but now he was able to read it. Later he would look at Grandmother's journal and see way the writing got so heavy at the end.

She taught him to shapeshift and he taught her to cast doppelgänger copies to confuse and distract. Their friendship grew and the more he got used to seeing her the more beautiful she was to him.

She taught him the form of a wolf and they ran together and hunted together. Loki enjoyed her company in any form.


	5. Chapter5

The month's passed by and a celebration was being planned in Asgard.

"Dance with me, you will be the most beautiful woman there. Dance with me and refuse to dance with my brother" he pleaded, half joking. He loved the idea of a beautiful woman choosing him over his brother and the idea of her secretly being a frost giant was absolutely delicious.

Angrboda laughed so hard she couldn't breathe. "You want my big blue self to dance while towering over the lovely little Ásynja and even most of my partners? My sharp pointy horns will be oh so festive, they will love me, shall I hang sparkly trinkets on them?" she giggled. Holding her fingers to the tips of her slate blue horns and wiggling them. "Perhaps chicken bones to celebrate my savagery. All the As will line up to be my partner because you know everyone's fantasy is an exotic frost giant maiden to twirl around for all to see."

"No no!" Loki interrupted. "Shift to the form of an Asynja." Though he did like the idea of the frost giant maiden himself, without the chicken bones, though.

Angrboda smirked and started to shrink. Her horns disappeared and her light red on red eyes gained whites and formed perfect lavender irises. She was very short, barely coming to Loki's chest now- since she was a tiny frost giant her Aesir form was also small. Her hair was the same, dark red and cascading to her hips in gentle waves.

Loki was surprised at how tiny she was, dancing might be a bit awkward but he would figure it out.

She was still wearing her usual halter top and loincloth, though. They had shrunk with her changed body and still fit perfectly. Loki shook his head and waved a hand in front of her as he mumbled a spell.

Her clothing changed to a very light weight emerald gown. Gold laced the front of the bodice and was woven into her hair. Then he had a second thought, dressing her in his color was too obvious. He waved his hand again and the gown turned sky blue.

"There you are" Loki said proudly. "Like this you will be the most sought after woman there. Turn my brother down. And Fandral, and everyone else. Then dance only with me!" He implored.

"How cute it is that you assume I can dance... because there were so many grand balls in the Jotun temple where I grew up. So adorable that you imagine female mages are even taught any of that sort of girly thing" she drawled sarcastically.

"What do you mean?"

She smiled weakly "Magic makes us small, we are too small to carry a full term frost giant child, pregnancy nearly always means death so we aren't exactly groomed to be wives and consorts. Jotnar bondings are very close, and no one wants to endure the probable death of a partner so we are usually celibate unless we are drawn to other women"

"What about male mages, wouldn't that be safe?" Loki asked.

"The concentration of magical genes creates monsters and deformities. Most offspring of such pairings die before or shortly after birth. It is forbidden for this reason for mages to marry" she explained. "Mages are usually the product of a full sized Jotnar woman and a male mage, females are a genetic dead end, truly a disappointment to their parents"

"My mother was full sized, a warrior. My father was a warrior mage, I never met them. My father was killed in the war. They weren't completely bonded yet, so my mother didn't suffer the full loss of a mate. When I was born, she was devastated that I was small and female, it meant that she had to give me up to the temple and lose her connection to my father forever. If I were a boy and a mage she would still have been allowed contact as he could have given her grandchildren so he would be family"

"Mages must be raised in temples under the strict guidance of scholars and priests lest we become dangerous and uncontrollable" Angrboda rolled her eyes.

"The elder Sorceress of the Ironwood saw potential in me and brought me here to raise as her heir. I never saw my bio mother again, but my mentor was a good parent, I am happy that she chose me"

"Some lines have hidden magic genes, like the line of Laufey King. Both parents can be full sized and produce a mage child"

"There is a story that a male mage was born at the end of the war to Laufey King and his consort Farbauti General. There hadn't been any mages in the royal line for many generations. The babe was the hope of Jotunheim. A mage king would be able to bring Jötunheim back to glory. Such an heir would have been the greatest blessing from the Norns. It was too good to be true, though."

"It is said that Laufey King sent the child to the temple for protection from the war but the aesir attacked the temple and killed all the priests and scholars in a bloodbath. The Jotnar were shocked that the Aesir would attack a temple. They say Odin himself was there to oversee the carnage. The baby's body was never found. It was as if he ceased to exist-or perhaps he never existed at all. Jötunheim mourned the lost prince, whether he was real or not didn't matter, he became a thing of legend".

Loki didn't want to believe that his father had condoned the massacre of scholars, much less a tiny baby so he hoped it was all just a story. He wanted the subject changed again, but somehow the suggestion that she marry an Aesir prince didn't sound like it would go over well just now.

"Ok, then" Loki changed the subject. "I have a week to teach you to dance, my lady" Loki said as he took her hand and kissed it.

Angrboda gave him a strange look.

"Basic manners you savage!" Loki snapped with mock exasperation. "Expect your hand to be kissed several times by several men as they attempt to woo you

"That's very unsanitary. Do I have to kiss their hands back?"

"No no!! Just look pretty and smile" he laughed. "You basically stand there and they do everything to win your favor. But only give that to me".

"I will turn them all into squirrels!!" She said with a mock haughty laugh.

"Squirrels?" He repeated

"Yes, because it would be funny"

"It would at that" Loki agreed and then added "Don't do that, seriously can I even take you anywhere?"

Dancing was awkward at first, and Angrboda's attention span for it was short. She tried her best because it was so important to her dear friend. Loki learned to defend himself against being turned into a squirrel. The lessons could have been more efficient but they did have fun.

Towards the end of the week Angrboda asked Loki why it was so important to him that she refuse all others, from what he described it sounded like a maiden would typically dance with several suitors.

"I am always in my brother's shadow,'' he responded. I am the second son,the spare and he is perfect in all the ways that my people value. He is big and strong and a great warrior. He looks like our father with his golden hair and blue eyes. I look like a mistake with my pale skin, black hair and green eyes, some dare to whisper questions of my parentage, though my father slaps those down and swears I am the child of him and the queen"

"Father would tell us as boys that we were both born to be Kings, but it was always clear that only Thor would ever sit on the throne of Asgard. I am the afterthought, occasional joke. Magic user and weak, compared to the average As."

"In Asgard Magic is a woman's craft. Few men wield it and they don't talk about it. My mother took me aside when the other children were cruel to me and taught me to defend myself. She found I had talent and proceeded to teach me everything she could. I adapted things for use in battle and saved the skins of my brother and his warriors three several times. Never to receive their thanks, just scoffing that I had somehow cheated"

"I am sorry to hear this" Angrboda said seriously. "I'm not sure just how well this will work. but I will do my best to make you look good" she smiled and quickly turned him into a squirrel.


	6. Chapter6

The day came and Angrboda shifted to Ásynja form in the blue dress that Loki had created for her.

She entered the great hall cautiously and stopped to look around at all of the Aesir and Vanr mingling, eating, drinking and dancing. She had a bad feeling about this.

She spotted Loki in his ceremonial armor and helm across the ballroom. The helm made her stop, she wasn't sure if she should be offended or laugh. She decided to laugh now and get it out of her system before she greeted him, in case it might hurt his feelings to see her reaction. The big gold horns looked rather silly to her, but if she didn't have horns herself maybe she would want fake ones, she considered. Probably not ones that jutted up two feet above her head, though. Otherwise he looked very handsome in green and black leather with gold accents.

The man in the red and blue armor beside him must be Thor. He was huge, a couple inches taller than Loki and almost twice as wide, Loki himself would have towered over most even without the silly horns, both brothers were very tall for Aesir . Thor's helm had wings on either side and while quite ornate and regal was nowhere near as obnoxious as Loki's.

There was a very attractive and dashing blond man with a pretty woman on each arm - she assumed that must be Fandral. The stoic dark haired Vanir next to him must be Hogan, the third warrior was not present, she assumed he must be taking advantage of the copious amounts of food spread out on the tables if he were as Loki described him.

A woman in armor studied her from across the room. The look on her face was as though she were trying to determine if Angrboda was a threat, which Angrboda thought odd because the woman was over a head taller and all sleek hard muscle while Angrboda was very small and slight in Asynja form. This one must be Sif.

Angerboda started to walk across the room to the group and took note of all the male eyes following her. She smiled shyly, made no eye contact and kept walking.

Her Ásynja form was quite small, and it made her feel vulnerable. The sky blue gown was simply not made for running or fighting, it was just to look pretty and while Loki had thoughtfully made the fabric very light to keep her cool, it just didn't feel secure. It all felt very strange to her. All the male attention was overwhelming and she wasn't sure what she thought about it.

She kept moving in hopes that no one would try to talk to her. She wanted to find a safe quiet corner to observe some more before she approached Loki.

The women were all dressed in similar gowns of all sorts of colors and color combinations. She observed much hand kissing and other formal gestures. She realized that while she felt she could dance, she really didn't think she could fit in with the other women. She was just too much of an outsider, not just as a secret frost giant but in the role of a woman in general. The whole courting thing was never meant to be a part of her life as a female mage.

She decided to head over to Loki and hope he would make her feel comfortable.

Thor first saw her, and asked her name.

That shouldn't have been difficult, except her name was a very obvious Jotun name. Would they even notice this? She thought quickly and borrowed a name she had heard somewhere.

"I am Sigyn, from the north, your highness," she said with a just barely presentable curtsy.

"You must dance with me, beautiful lady" he said as he gently took her hand and kissed it, making eye contact the entire time.

Angrboda was not pleased. She wanted to jerk her hand away but remembered her instructions. "Oh I'm very flattered, but I fear I promised the first dance to your brother" she looked over to Loki and smiled sweetly.

"Very well", said Thor looking perplexed. I will have my dance with you later in the evening"

Fandral chuckled and shook his head looking first to the lady on his right and then to the one on his left. Both giggled. Sif rolled her eyes and hogan showed no expression.

Angrboda nodded to Thor and extended her hand to Loki,who took it and kissed it then led her to the dance floor.

"You look stunning, my friend. But also like you might scream and disappear in a cloud of smoke any second" he teased. "Please stay here with me, my little Sigyn all eyes are on the lady who chose me over the mighty Thor" he smirked but his eyes showed he was deeply pleased.

Angrboda clung to him a little tighter than she really needed to, the situation was much more stressful than she had anticipated. She was raised with the understanding that she would be celibate. She had developed an attachment to the second prince, and it gave her feelings that she was not familiar with.

"Can we go somewhere away from the crowd?" She asked when the music stopped.

"Yes, we can walk in my mother's garden.

He offered her his arm and she took it and they left the crowded room and followed a meticulously planted path to the queen's royal garden.

"I don't belong here," she said as they walked past a patch of fragrant white night blooming blossoms. The night air was pleasantly cool and the sky was blazing with stars.

"You belong with me" Loki countered. He wished she was in her natural form, the asynja form was so tiny and he had grown to appreciate her pale blue skin and the mischievous sparkle of her red eyes.

"Together we are stronger than anyone there, even my father would have to admit it, no one would dare look down on us."

"I belong to the ironwood, Loki. It is my home and my domain, I'm not meant to be in another's kingdom, I think it best you continue to come to me rather than try to bring me into this world"

As they rounded a corner they came upon the Allfather with several armed einherjar.

"Witch!" He growled. "Do you think I don't recognize you in your disguise!! Leave! How dare you consort with my son! Begone Hag of the ironwood!!"

"Father! She is my guest!"

"Silence! You are a foolish, perverse boy!!

Do you think I would approve of you dallying with this Frost Giant witch!?"

Loki was silent. Angrboda took a deep breath.

"Witch! Stay away from my son, if I see you here again I will have you killed"

Angrboda let go of Loki's arm, took a step back. She looked into Loki's eyes and touched his mind in apology. Then she vanished.

"You stay away from those monsters! Do you think your mother would approve of you courting a frost giant? Never see her again!" The Allfather commanded.

Loki was devastated but determined that his father not see his pain. His father needed to see him as strong. He would make this up to father. He would earn his father's respect somehow. He tried not to think of his friend and his growing feelings for her. She was a monster, after all. How foolish he was to think she could be anything else. His heart ached.


	7. Chapter7

After a while, an opportunity came for Loki to show his worth to his father. They needed a wall built around Asgard, but it would take years to build. A giant proposed that he could build the wall alone in only 1 year. In payment he requested the sun, the moon and the hand of the goddess Freya.

The gods scoffed. It simply wasn't possible, and no way was his price reasonable. but Loki had a plan.

Loki was sure he could negotiate a deal. What if they gave the giant three seasons to build it. If the giant completed the wall in that time, which was clearly impossible, he would receive all that he asked for. If he failed he got nothing and Asgard got a partially finished wall that they could complete themselves very fast.

Odin allowed his son to make this deal. The giant accepted. Obviously the giant would fail.

But the giant had a secret that he did not disclose. His horse, Svadifari was not an ordinary stallion. He could move piles of stones like they were feathers. The wall was going up before the very eyes of the horrified gods. Odin was angry, Freyja was enraged and terrified. Loki knew they would take it out on him for advising them to make the deal. He would be killed if he was lucky.

It was a bad idea. What was he thinking? But there was no way that wall could have been completed in time. Not with just one giant, not even with just one giant and an ordinary stallion. But there was nothing ordinary about this situation.

Then he had an idea. It was insane, but he didn't want to die just yet-had he thought it through he might have considered death the better choice, but as usual he leaped before he looked.

The night was a long and painful experience, but Loki had won. The stallion no longer cared to move stones. The giant would not finish the wall in time, Asgard would not forfeit the sun and the moon and Freja was safe. But the cost to Loki was unimaginable.

All he could do was run-gallop-scream.

Eyes wide and mouth foaming in terror. Four hooves pounding the ground desperately. Desperate to get far far away from there. Away from the horror and humiliation. Away from the unthinkable pain he had endured to save his own life. Into the ironwood, somehow he knew he could be safe there.

She would help him. But how would he find her? She appeared when it suited her. Would she recognize him in this form? It had been a while, would she still care? And did he really want her to see him like this? He had no where else to go and his brain was jumbled with the nights trauma.

A scream escaped his lips and he ran faster. If only he could gallop this whole night off of him and be clean again. Burn it all away with the intense effort of his strong equine muscles and have the early morning air blow away the ashes of the night. He needed to stop and shift back, but the blind horror kept him from thinking clearly. He would never be clean again.

"Whoa! Easy my friend!" He finally heard the voice he needed to hear. "What have you done to yourself, silly prince? What mischief have you brought to the world this time?" The silky alto tone soothed his terrified horse brain and he started to tentatively slow down.

He came to a stop and in the dim light of the early morning he saw the giantess walking towards him. Her eyes glowed pale red and her long red-black hair blew gently in the breeze. He wanted to run to her and bury his face in her hair and never look up again. But he couldn't, in this form he had no hands and he was so much bigger than she was. If only he could shift but he couldn't, he was stuck and it was terrifying.

She reached him and tentatively raised her black clawed hand to stroke his neck. He leaned into her touch. "What have you done?" She repeated softly. "Are you stuck in this form? Can you shift back now?"

Loki shut his eyes. He couldn't shift. He couldn't speak. Something wasn't right. Something had been changed within him and it held him in this form against his will. He made a noise horses don't make, a whimper, a sob. He started shaking.

"Oh poor little God of Mischief", Angrboda sang under her breath. "I will take care of you, you foolish creature, come with me".

She walked beside him with her hand touching his neck. The contact soothed him just enough to keep him from screaming.

They finally reached a large cottage. Loki realized that in all this time he had never seen where she lived. It was a good sized home, even seemed large for one person.

When the got to the door two people came out. Both Midgardian. One stared at the horizon behind them and made circles in the air with his finger-Loki didn't detect any magic being generated, it was just a repetitive motion that seemed to calm the man. The second was a woman. She immediately started making strange noises at Angrboda and gesturing with her hands.

Angrboda looked at Loki and then at the pair and said "These are my friends Oleg and Anja. They were cast out of their villages on Midgard as children. I have taken them in and they help me." Then to the midgardians she said "this is Loki, second prince of Asgard and my friend. We will do what we can to help him.

Anja gestured wildly at Loki and made some noises that almost sounded almost like words.

Angrboda looked directly at Anja's face and very clearly said while gesturing with her hands. "I do not know why he is in the form of a mare, it's clear that something terrible has happened and he doesn't appear to be able to change back. He is a powerful sorcerer and for him to be stuck like this something must be in the way. I intend to find out what that is"

Oleg stared at the ground and asked "where will he sleep" then repeated himself under his breath.

There was no barn in sight, Angrboda didn't keep horses. She sighed and said "we will need to build him a shelter".

The giant and the two humans put up a crude shelter to keep any rain off of him for the time being. They had no straw so they gathered dry leaves for his bed.

Loki walked into the crude shelter and laid down in the leaves. Angrboda sat in the leaves next to him and leaned against him. The two midgardians retired to the cottage.

"What am I going to do with you, your majesty? Something or someone has hurt you and I need to understand it to help you. Maybe you just need to rest and tomorrow will be better. Sleep now my prince" she said soothingly and gently put her claw over one of his eyes. He felt a mild sleeping spell and gave into it without a fight.

Anja woke them up the next morning. She brought a bucket of grains and root vegetables for Loki. Angrboda grinned broadly at her and made a hand sign of gratitude in her direction. Anja smiled and nodded.

She made more hand signs and vocalizations and Angrboda signed back as she answered "yes, take Oleg to the village and see if you can purchase better shelter materials and more suitable food for Loki. I'm sure there will be a shopkeeper willing to deliver it for us"

Oleg had trouble with people, but when he had a project like building the shelter he could communicate as if nothing were different about him. Angrboda knew he would be fine today as long as there weren't too many people or noises around since he had a project. He and Anja had been with her since they were children. He was comfortable with Anja and somehow managed to communicate with her.

She stayed with Loki, who was calmer today but it wasn't necessarily a good thing. More like shock.


	8. Chapter8

Why a mare though? A horse was a strange enough form, but switching gender was complicated. Was he just experimenting? If so why with a horse?

His scent was strongly horse and female, which Angrboda found confusing. She could still smell Jotnar and the odd way his Aesir blood presented-it never smelled quite right to her, but there was something else in the mix that tugged at her brain, something she felt should be obvious but she just couldn't place.

The Jotnar had very sensitive noses, with training they could tell a lot about something by its scent, identifying molecules and even going to an atomic level. Some of their magic even relied on it. She had been very surprised at how well Loki was able to identify things by scent when she shared magic with him, way more precisely than an Aesir should be able to.

Loki opened his eyes and sighed. She stroked his neck to try to make him feel calmer, she would need to get into his head to find out what happened since in horse form he was unable to speak.

"Loki, I want to go into your mind to talk to you, is that ok?"

The horse sighed again and nuzzled her hand. She took that as a yes.

She put her hand on the mare's forehead and willed herself in. She found herself in a white space with no defined walls or floor, yet she wasn't floating. He has created a safe place for them to meet. She was relieved, minds could be very chaotic and she didn't like having to sort through personal memories.

He appeared in the safe space in his Aesir form. Dressed in a loose green tunic and black trousers. His hair was untangled but not slicked back in his normal fashion. His eyes had dark circles under them and his normally pale skin looked pasty. Angrboda thought it very odd that he would present himself this way in his mind when he could look any way he wanted.

"What happened, my friend" she said softly, forgoing her usual snide references to royalty.

"My father allowed me to make an important deal, it started to fail and I couldn't allow it to fail, I had to show father that I was worthy of his trust and respect."

Angrboda frowned slightly, this was an ongoing thing with him, the desire that his father would be proud of him. She grew up without a father, infact her mentor had taken her from the temple and raised her here in the ironwood. She wondered how it would have felt if her mentor had not been so attentive.

"What did you do, Loki, why are you a mare?" She got to the point and deliberately specified the gender of the horse.

He groaned and put his hands on his face. Pushing his fingers over his eyes then opening a space between his fingers to look through at her. Then he turned his back on her. "I... I interfered so that a giant would not complete a wall on time" he said to the white nothingness in front of them.

"How did you do that, my friend?" She said with concern in her voice. She knew he was in pain, but felt she couldn't help him if she didn't know the cause-even if it was painful for him to disclose.

Loki turned around abruptly and looked her in the eye, stared forcing himself to face her. "The giant had a magic stallion, the stallion was the reason the wall was being built so fast. He dragged great stones like they were nothing. I did not know about the stallion when I made the deal, I thought the deal was that the giant would build the wall alone. He could never have built the wall in three seasons by himself" Loki blurted out quickly.

"So I had to stop the stallion or we would lose the sun and the moon and the giant would marry Freja" he continued.

Angrboda's eyes widened and a chill travelled up her spine.

"I couldn't think of another way that wouldn't obviously be me interfering-I had to do it. If he had completed the wall I don't know what they would have done but it would certainly have involved my death. So I shifted into a mare and lured the stallion away. It worked perfectly. " he turned and faced the white behind him again, his hands covering his face as if they could block the memory. "I kept him busy until the time ran out, then I escaped and ran. Now you know, I have defiled myself and I am broken"

Angrboda now understood what the strange other scent was, it was what kept him from shifting. She had to tell him even though it would traumatize her dear friend all the more.

"Loki, my friend. You are unable to shift because you have another being within you, while you were distracting the stallion your mare form conceived."

Loki's image stared at her in horror and fell to its knees, it's hand covered it's head as if the world was falling in on him. He screamed in anguish and then pulled his knees to his chest and sobbed.

"I'm sorry, my friend. I can't help you, you are too intertwined to shift back. Me and my housemates will care for you. You will not be alone. This changes nothing between us, you are my friend regardless."

Loki did not respond. He started to rock. Angrboda's image walked over to him and sat down next to him. She reached out to him and pulled him to her chest, he did not resist. She stroked his hair soothingly and said nothing. She had said enough for a long time. She sat with him until she heard sounds from the outside world.

Oleg and Anja were back. They had a cart full of wood and hay. A young man with a tired looking mule drove the cart. Angrboda came back to herself and helped them unload and made sure the man was paid appropriately and sent him on his way.

After the man left Oleg took over the assembly of the shelter. He pushed Anja and Angrboda away, he had a plan and he didn't want any interference until he needed another hand. Then Angrboda quietly followed his instructions. She trusted him and knew he was talented with construction and the building of just about anything. Humans were foolish for casting him away. He was different, but Angrboda loved those who were different.

Mortals who didn't fit in were the bulk of those who summoned Angrbota. She didn't always answer, and if she answered she didn't always provide the summoner with his desire, but when she did, it was solid and she was loyal to them. There were far fewer summons now that Christianity was taking hold on Midgard. A lot of the requests were for protection from these new invaders, who were not content with just conquering bodies, they wanted souls. Angrboda did not like these conquerors and feared for the future of Midgard and her few, chosen worshipers.

Despite being a prince, and having every material need he desired, Loki was definitely different, and that is what intrigued her about him. He also was nearly as powerful as she was, which was refreshing to her.

She worried about her friend.

Loki stood up and watched, grinding his teeth a little and twitching his ears around as though he felt vulnerable and exposed. Anja reached over to stroke his neck and he startled.

"Loki, Anja will never harm you, consider her and Oleg to be your friends, they are my friends and they will help me care for you" said Angrboda

Anja smiled softly at Loki and gently stroked his neck again. This time he leaned into it, she smiled and made some signs with her hands and murmured some sounds that were meant to sooth and continued stroking him.

Oleg was deep in concentration and the small building was already taking shape. It would be just big enough for the mare, and sturdy enough to keep out the wind or any animals that might disturb him. Of course Loki would be able to come and go as he pleased.

"You can stay here as long as you need to, as long as you want to" the Jotun sorceress whispered to the mare.


	9. Chapter9

Days flowed into weeks and then months. The mare was distraught. Angrboda tried her best to console the miserable prince, but he pushed her away. He allowed Anja to stroke him, and he seemed to have endless tolerance for Oleg, who spoiled the horse with attention every chance he got. Oleg would walk with the mare and take him to clearings of rich green grass, he knew all the best places.

Angrboda tried to get into Loki's head to talk, but he was too ashamed to deal with her. Even though she told him that his predicament did not affect their friendship he knew it did. How could she ever accept him now?

Loki started going off on his own, wandering around eating grass and tasty plants that he recognized. His belly was starting to swell, it was a strange feeling knowing that another being was within him. He felt it move and he hated it and loved it at the same moment.

It seemed like he had never had a different life, never been an Aesir mage prince, never fought with his brother or competed for his father's attention, never learned magic on his mother's lap. It all seemed so far away. He hated his form and he hated the life within him. He hated Angrboda for accepting him regardless of his predicament.

He walked along a cliff and looked down and the choppy river below. White water splashed over jagged rocks. It was beautiful. A thought came to him, he could end all of this now, all he needed to do was jump. He started to gallop along the edge. A few hundred feet ahead was a turn to the left, he could just keep going straight and his nightmare would end. He ran faster.

As he got to the bend he stopped, he wasn't ready yet. Would he ever be ready?

Or was he a coward who would soon give birth as an animal? Then what?

He retraced his footsteps back to the cottage. Anja was hanging up clothes when he returned and she signed a greeting to him, stopping her work to meet him halfway and stroked his soft nose. He did enjoy all the unconditional affection he was getting here.

Anja signed that she would get him his dinner. He had learned to read her hand signals over the last couple months. She would talk to him that way and told him stories and jokes to entertain him and give his mind a break from reality.

She walked into the cottage and returned with an armful of root vegetables and grain. She carefully put it down in the trough that he ate from.

Angrboda walked towards them, he ignored her and ate his dinner.

A couple more weeks went by and the baby was getting big. It moved constantly and the thought of pushing it out of his body terrified him. He knew he could never be himself again, this was too much. He found himself walking in the direction of the cliff.

How would he ever be able to explain his absence to his father? What was he going to do with this baby? Was it a baby or a foal? His head hurt thinking about it.

If Thor and the warriors three ever found out they would torment him forever. He would never live this down. They would relish telling the story in pubs and tavern and soon everyone in Asgard would know. It would spread to all of the nine realms. He would be a joke.

He found himself speeding up. Galloping towards the cliff. This time he was going to do it. He would never see Valhalla this way but he didn't care. He just needed it to be over.

When he got within a couple feet from the edge he closed his eyes and he jumped, anticipating his flight to oblivion.

Instead of falling his hooves touched the ground and a weight appeared on his back. Hands grasped his mane and strong thighs gripped his back. He was now facing away from the cliff and running towards the forest. He was startled and disoriented

"You don't think I can see everything that is happening in the ironwood?" Angrboda yelled as she pulled his mane back harshly and held on. "Do you really think I would let you do that?"

"Come, let's go back home. We need to talk." She made no move to dismount and kicked him with her heels as she pointed his head in the direction of her cottage.

His shock and confusion turned to irritation at her riding him, as if he really were a horse. She had control of him and he didn't like it one bit. He thought about bucking her off and running back to the cliff, but he knew her magic would keep her on and just strengthen her control of him, which would only frustrate him more.

He gave up and started walking slowly back, he certainly wasn't going to hurry. To his disappointment, she didn't seem to care that he dragged his hooves.

Oleg walked out to meet them and he was angry. "Get off of him!" He demanded. He even glanced for a second at Angrboda's face when he said it. "He's not a horse!"

Angrboda chuckled at Oleg's uncharacteristic outburst. and said "don't worry Oleg, I have my reasons for doing this, he's ok".

"No!! Off!!" Oleg was clearly agitated to the point that he could barely speak.

She then dismounted but kept a handful of Loki's mane in her grasp. She guided the mare towards the small barn. Oleg glared at her then glared at his feet.

"I'm glad you care for him so much, Oleg. Believe me that I have no intentions to harm him, he will be fine".

Oleg turned and walked away, talking to himself under his breath.

She walked into the barn with the horse. "Lie down, I'm going into your mind and we are going to talk" she said

The horse hesitated for a moment and then carefully settled down. His round belly taking up more room than Angrboda expected and it took him a few tries to get comfortable.

She sat down next to him and found a spot where she could lean against him. She put her hand on his forehead and willed herself in.

Once again she was in the undefined white space. There were no walls, ceiling or floor but she wasn't floating. This time Loki was more himself, his hair was combed back slickly like he normally wore it in his Aesir form and he wore his ceremonial green and black leather. He did not wear the helm, Angrboda suspected that he knew she thought it was silly, though she had to admit it made him look imposing.

Angrboda switched her clothing to a more formal traditional Jotnar outfit to match his presentation. A beaded halter and loincloth with panels that would have brushed the floor if it had been solid. Her dried blood red hair cascaded to her waist.

Loki's face was blank. "Why did you stop me? Surely I'm no use to you".

"I'm not done with you yet,'' she softly replied, her voice a soothing alto.

"Done? What am I good for!? Nonone will respect me now. I'm ruined. I'm nothing but a joke"

"You are my friend, and I like having you around. I would be sad to find you broken on the rapids as you intended".

"I am nothing but a second son, a spare. I only exist in case my brother dies. He won't. But now even if he did I am already too compromised to take his place. How could I rule having been like this?" He spread his arms out and looked at his flat, armored belly as if it were the swollen abdomen of his mare form.

"No one knows what happened to you, you just disappeared"

"Oh great,'' he snarled "they believe that I ran like a coward, how is that better?"

They have a wall, they have the sun and the moon and Freja is free to do as she pleases, they know they owe this to you regardless of how you made it happen- and that they do not know, nor do they have to".

Suddenly he winced and held his stomach. His eyes opened and he looked at Angrboda with raw fear in his eyes. "I think it's time".


	10. Chapter10

Angrboda left his mind and returned to her body next to the reclining mare. The horse was terrified but frozen, the whites of his eyes clearly showing.

After a few moments he got up and left the barn. He walked around the area aimlessly then stopped, frozen again. The contraction took over his body and he groaned at the pain.

Angrboda ran to him but suddenly waves of water spilled from his back end, it seemed like a river, like it would never stop. He looked at Angrboda and she could see he was terrified beyond thought.

She called to Oleg and they quickly cleaned the barn and laid down clean straw. Anja followed Oleg out of the cottage and stood by the mare and stroked his neck in an attempt to sooth him.

Angrboda then walked over to the mare and gently grasped a lock of his mane, "come, let's go inside where it's clean and dry" she whispered to her friend. She led him back into the barn and he laid down in the clean straw.

Suddenly his body was no longer his own, the type of pain changed and became urgent. The mares body was was going to push whether he wanted it to or not. He could only experience it, he had no control.

The horse groaned and something started to protrude from his back end, a tiny hoof. Soon there was a second. Then a third and a fourth poked out. Angrboda was terrified that the baby was coming out wrong and she didn't know what to do.

He was no longer Loki, he was the mare and the mares body said to push and it did. He felt he was an outsider in his own body, watching in horror yet feeling every sensation. It wanted to push, it wanted nothing more in the universe than to get that creature out of his body no matter what it did to him. It revelled in expelling the small invader that had worn out its welcome.

The horse pushed again and a tiny muzzle appeared. This was even stranger, what position was this foal in? Angrboda wondered if there were twins.

Oleg started to gently bang the back of his head against the wall and mumble to himself, repeating the same garbled sentence over and over. It wasn't hard enough to harm him or the structure so Angrboda ignored it, she knew he was terrified and stressed for his friend and this was how he calmed himself.

Anja sat in the straw near Loki's head and gently stroked his face to sooth him, occasionally a sound would escape her and she would pause to sign something encouraging.

Loki was barely aware of her. Or anything other than the commands of his body.

The horse pushed a few more times and the foal's shoulders appeared. A little more of him came out and they could see that the second set of legs were attached right behind the first. A couple more pushes and the baby was free of his mother, four more legs on his hind quarters. The foal had eight legs.

Anja signed to Loki that the baby was a beautiful colt.

Loki lay exhausted. He didn't care. It was almost over. He was still in mare form. The foal took its first breaths and stood up wobbling on its eight spindly legs. Loki delivered the placenta with a final push and shifted into Aesir form.

He was disheveled and pale. Wearing loose trousers and a tunic. He tried to get up but gave up. He was too exhausted to do more than shift his form so Angrboda helped him get up. She called to Oleg to get some goat's milk for the foal, as Loki was completely done being a horse for the rest of his life.

She walked Loki into the cottage and drew him a bath to soak in. She drew the curtains around the tub so that she could stay with him and he could still keep his modesty.

"He's the most amazing horse that ever lived" said Loki softly as he lay back in the warm water. "His name will be Sleipnir and I will give him to my father, the Allfather will ride the greatest horse in all the nine realms. Father will be so pleased with me".

Angrboda raised an eyebrow but said nothing. She was shocked that Loki's first thought was of pleasing his father.

Something needed to be done with the little colt. He certainly was a special little creature. She wondered if Loki would change his mind about giving the colt to his father once he was rested and recovered.

She put some shampoo in her hands and lathered up Loki's tangled, greasy hair. He smiled. Maybe he could be clean again after all.

Sleipnir grew quickly drinking the goats milk from the bottle. Oleg and Anja fed him, Loki rarely interacted with him. He had no maternal instinct and was glad to be free.

The little colt had an amazingly smooth gate, his eight legs seemed make him float above the ground when he ran and he ran and played happily all day. He was a joy to watch.

Loki spent the days reading with Angrboda. Sometimes going for walks alone while she answered a rare summoner's call. He knew that soon he would be able to return to Asgard, he just had to get back his strength, he would need to explain the gift he brought his father and why he had been gone for so long. That is, if they even noticed he was gone, he thought bitterly.

The day finally came and he gathered the little colt and headed to the edge of the ironwood. Angrboda and the two humans walked with them. The humans were going to miss little Sleipnir, especially Oleg who had fed and interacted with him the most. Oleg loved the little colt and was sad to see him go.

Angrboda hugged Loki, he held on to her and thought for a few seconds that maybe he should stay, then he remembered the gift he was bringing to Odin and how his father would be pleased with him for once. He let her go and walked with the little colt towards The castle.

The Queen was delighted to have her son back. Thor hugged him and put his hand on the back of his neck.

"Where have you been, Brother? It's been over a year since I killed the giant who tried to cheat us with that stallion, I have missed you".

"I have been world walking, I have been all over the nine realms and beyond" Loki told his brother and mother. "I have seen many places and a sizing things. I have brought a gift for father, the most magnificent horse in all the realms"

Sleipnir knew they were talking about him and held his head high and proud. He was a smart little creature, more than a simple horse.

Frigga and Thor admired the little colt. They agreed that he was a magnificent gift for the Allfather.

Loki finally got an audience with the Allfather and presented him with Sleipnir. Odin was amazed at the little horse's agility and the way he seemed to float when he ran. He thanked Loki for the fine gift and praised his choice of such a fine and impressive steed.

Sleipnir was sent to the stables to be trained by the best horsemen in Asgard. He learned quickly and when he was big enough to be ridden the Allfather never rode a four legged horse again. He and Sleipnir were fearsome in battle and the strange drumming of his eight hooves became famous throughout the nine realms, a warning to any who thought to oppose the reign of the Allfather.

Loki never visited his child. He never knew that Sleipnir wished that his mother would see him and longed for his approval.


End file.
